Beyond the Building: Public Art as Museum Space

ID: WMA2026_632

Track:

What if museum work didn’t depend on a building? This session explores how public art can extend museum practice into everyday community spaces, or function as museum space where no building exists. Using Springville, Utah’s Art Loops and statewide public art systems as case studies, panelists will share how collaboration, policy, and collections shape this work. Attendees will leave with practical strategies to create scalable, public-facing experiences in any community.

Session Information

Format: Regular session/panel (roundtable, single speaker, etc.)

Uniqueness: Reframes public art as museum space itself, offering a scalable, cross-disciplinary model that applies to both institutions with buildings and communities without them.

Objectives:

Participants will gain a flexible and actionable framework for understanding and implementing public-facing museum work through public art and place-based strategies.

1. Expanding the Definition of Museum Space Attendees will explore how museum work can extend beyond physical buildings, functioning in public space or existing entirely without a traditional facility, increasing access and visibility.
2. Implementation Through Collaboration and Systems Using Springville’s Art Loops as a case study, participants will learn how public-facing work is built through coordination across city administration, residents, funding bodies, and institutional partners. A statewide perspective will provide insight into policy, funding, collections, and long-term stewardship.
3. Cross-Disciplinary Application Across Communities Through perspectives from non-art museum professionals, participants will identify how these approaches translate to science, history, and community-based institutions, as well as regions without established museums. Participants will leave with practical strategies, partnership models, and a planning framework adaptable to institutions of any size or structure.

Engagement: Participants will engage in a guided “museum without walls” mapping activity, identifying opportunities for public-facing work in their own institutions or communities. Small group discussion will focus on sites, partnerships, and barriers, followed by a facilitated group share to exchange ideas across disciplines. A digital worksheet will support continued planning beyond the session.

Relationship to Theme:

Audience

Audiences: Curators/Scientists/Historians Other Registrars, Collections Managers 

Professional Level: All levels 

Scalability: This session is designed to be relevant across a wide spectrum of contexts, including museums of varying sizes and communities without formal museum infrastructure. While Springville’s Art Loops provides a municipal-scale example, the strategies presented emphasize adaptable approaches such as partnerships, temporary installations, and place-based interpretation. Small museums can implement low-cost, community-driven initiatives, while larger institutions can integrate public-facing work into collections, interpretation, and long-term planning. The session also offers frameworks for communities where public art functions as a primary form of museum space, demonstrating that impactful cultural work can occur with or without a building.

Participants